Guessing on SAT

<p>So...what is the possible maximum score I could get if I left out all "Hard" question unanswered. Thats going to be probably somewhere around 3-4 questions per section. Maybe 2 on the math ones. Is it a good idea to do this? I mean, I will guess if I have a pretty good idea, but if I don't know the answer at all, or if I didn't even get a chance to the read question would it be better to leave it blank or guess? (Yes, sometimes I've bubbled in an answer even though I haven't even read the question)</p>

<p>i always prefer guessing, learn guessing techniques, it's a lot better than leaving stuffs blank.</p>

<p>I agree. For example, things that aren't 'drawn to scale' normally actually are somewhat close to scale. </p>

<p>Bubbling in an answer without reading the question is a HUGE no-no. At least read the question because you can probably knock off 1-3 obviously wrong answers, and then take a guess.</p>

<p>You can get around a 2250 leaving those blank, but guessing IS better.</p>

<p>Really, guessing w/o looking doesn't matter. I'm sure you know this, but you break even if you guess, it's not really a penalty. If you're going to take the SAT multiple times, I'd definitely guess, because then you have a pretty good chance of getting a fluke higher score.</p>

<p>guess as much as you want as long as they're educated guesses. Eliminating as many answers as you can increases your chances of getting the answer right.</p>

<p>guessing helps a lot in SAT. don't leave any blanks</p>

<p>...unless you have no idea what the answer is and can't eliminate any of the answer choices.</p>

<p>"iin: Really, guessing w/o looking doesn't matter. I'm sure you know this, but you break even if you guess, it's not really a penalty. "</p>

<p>You definately do not break even by randomly guessing...I'm assuming your Math SAT score wasn't too high.</p>

<p>So, is guessing BETTER than leaving a question unanswered? I was told that you don't get any points deducted if you leave something blank, but you do if you get a wrong answer. Can someone explain what the truth is here? Because if students just answered the questions they were sure of and left, say, half the problems blank, wouldn't that count against them?</p>

<p>It's averages, prep_parent. You get 0 points for a blank answer and -1/4 for a wrong answer. If you guess on 5 questions you have a chance to get 1 right and 4 wrong, breaking even. I'm not a statistician though and there will be variance or whatever. If you can elminate anything it is best to guess though.</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that guessing will only hurt you if you answer 4n+3 questions incorrectly on a section.</p>

<p>well, I look at 'educated guessing' as this way---u r investing in new stocks. However, u simply don't go out and randomly select the one out of thousands of the new ones. U rather analyze public reaction, look at graphs and all, and then finally take the chance. If u make the profit, that's what u've achieved, if u fail, well, u really ain't gonna be bankrupted, after all, if there's any chance of being bankrupted, u should rather forget about the word 'stock' from the word go! (does that help a bit?!)</p>

<p>Geez, laserprecision...</p>

<p>You definitely do break even by randomly guessing.</p>

<p>4/5 * -1/4 + 1/5 * 1 = 0</p>

<p>And your SAT writing and math scores definitely weren't too high. =-)</p>

<p>ah my apologies...for some reason I was thinking it was 4 answer choice, not 5. too many econ problem sets for me right now :P</p>

<p>You should always guess if you can eliminate 3 choices and are left with two "possible" answers.</p>

<p>If you have time difficulties and are left with just two questions at the end of a section that you have not attempted--I would recommend random guessing on ONE and leave the other blank.</p>

<p>Laserprecision, if there were only 4 choices then guessing would even more advantageous. Good try tho.</p>

<p>Once lacerprecision told me he made a great score in SAT, so I don't think his statement was only a mistake.</p>

<p>If you're shooting for a really high score, like 2200+, I'd recommend answering every question, unless you are COMPLETELY clueless on something. At those score ranges, it matters more how many points you didn't earn to make the maximum raw score than how many points were deducted for wrong answers. </p>

<p>Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you only miss one or two on a section, then you would get the same raw score as if you hadn't answered those questions. So, you might as well answer them.</p>

<p>if you get 1/4 point off for a wrong answer then if you can eliminate 1 of the options, statistically, you should guess! thats what ive always been told</p>

<p>Too bad nobody started to answer this until I was done taking the SAT.</p>

<p>I've tried many strategies in leaving answers blank/making an educated guess, and I will definitely say that making an educated guess (even if it is out of 4 possible remaining answers) is much better than leaving it blank. The highest i've score on the SAT was when I answered every single question, the lowest i've scored on the SAT is when I left several blank on each section.</p>